


Beyond The Ocean

by ThePrimeOne



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Fluff without Plot, Implied Sexual Content, Post-Canon, but only for a moment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-14
Updated: 2020-08-14
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:35:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25887433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThePrimeOne/pseuds/ThePrimeOne
Summary: "Mama? Papa? What is it like out there? Beyond the ocean?""Yeah, yeah, tell us!"Or, in which Petra and Ashe get moment of repose with their children.
Relationships: Ashe Duran | Ashe Ubert/Petra Macneary
Comments: 3
Kudos: 32





	Beyond The Ocean

"Mama? Papa? What is it like out there? Beyond the ocean?" a childlike voice spoke up, pointing out to the water. Her voice's sudden perking brought the divided attention of her parents, a woman from braiding the girl's hair and a man stroking his son's short hair mindlessly, now entirely on their daughter, the girl leaning back a little while sitting on her Mother's lap.

"Yeah, yeah, tell us!" a boy's voice pipes up from under his father's arms, playing with discarded pieces of armor from his father's usual uniform as Prince Consort and Guardian Knight.

The older woman gently pushes her daughter forward to allow room to manipulate her hair. "Beyond the ocean?" the woman in a white dress asks, her plum hair falling freely over her shoulders as she carefully braids her daughter's hair. "Beyond the ocean, there are many things. Many wonderful and exciting places to see and people to meet. I should know your father is from beyond the ocean."

The girl huffs, not satisfied with such an answer, and crosses her arms. "I know Papa is from there, but what else Mama? Tell me, tell me!"

"Shh. You must be quiet and hold still,  _ a stóirín _ . I cannot finish these braids if you keep moving," the woman says, her patience knowing no bounds. "If you keep still, I will tell you. Perhaps your father can tell you stories of what is beyond the ocean as well."

The girl promptly shuts her mouth and sits up straight so quickly that 'Papa' can't help but let loose a chuckle.

"Certain someones are keen, aren't they?" 'Papa' grins, melting into his hug, his right arm wrapped around his wife's waist, the other around his son as the four watched the sunset together. Orange and yellows stained the sky as the sun slowly lowered behind the horizon, a beautiful sight to behold on Brigid's beaches. "Honestly… I'm not sure where to begin," he sighs, reminiscing on years past.

"Mama says you came from beyond the ocean, Papa. Is it like in the stories?" the girl asks excitedly. She says with noticeably less bounce, playing with the hem of her dress that matched her Mother's instead to let her Mother finish her hair correctly.

The older man furrowed his brows. "Stories? Which ones?"

"Oh, I know!" their daughter Cassie interjected. "Like where the man from beyond falls off a boat and the sea swallows him, and um…" she trails off, crossing her arms with a sharp hum, trying to recall the story she read in the book in her father's library. "It's _ the one where sea spirits hear his wish that he wants to live, and he washes up on an island where the Princess of the island lives because she wanted to find someone to love and…!" _ she exclaimed, switching to Brigidi from Fodlanese partway through.

"Slow down,  _ a stóirín _ , your father won't understand you if you babble between languages like that," Cassie's Mother giggled.

The little girl's face turned bright red.

The father clicked his tongue.  _ "I understood what she said,  _ Petra," he said cheekily, switching languages to prove a point. He shifted his head down so he could whisper to his wife.  _ "I perfectly understood what you said last night, too _ , _ you know _ . Your praise is always appreciated, no matter the language,  _ mo bhanríon,"  _ he whispered with a silly grin near her ear.

"Ashe!" Petra hissed, jerking her head and her upper body sideways to glare at him, her face adorably covered in a beautiful shade of red. 

Cassie and Christophe flinched in surprise from Petra's rare outburst. Their son shifted his head forward and looked between them suspiciously.  _ "Mama? Is Papa being naughty?"  _ he asks in Brigidi.

Petra's face broke into a smirk. "Yes, Christophe. Very." The boy with a mix of silver and plum-colored hair looked up at his father and silently shook his head in disappointment.

"Thank you very much, Petra," Ashe sarcastically quipped to his wife, the woman's cheekbones still rising with her smirk.

Not understanding what happened, their daughter spoke up again; both parents thankful for her timing. "But you know what I mean, don't you, Papa? Mama?"

"Yes- ah, one a moment,  _ a stóirín _ ," Petra interrupts herself. "Ashe," the woman turned her head a little to her husband again, burying his face in her hair. "You said you were going to braid my hair, yes?"

Ashe hums. "Soon, Petra. Or maybe later tonight. Hugging you is nice, you know. Also, your hair is soft. It's nice."

"Mama doesn't like waiting for you, Papa," their daughter states says a-matter-of-factly.

"Oh? And why is that,  _ a stór _ ?" Petra asks her daughter curiously, goading the child on to explain with a quirked eyebrow.

"No, no, Cassie's right, Petra" Ashe smiled, taking his daughter's side immediately. "You were the one who talked to me and asked me out on our first date when we were younger if I recall correctly."

"Really?" Cassie gasped with a silly grin. 

"Really. Your Mother didn't like waiting for me to do it first, so she dragged me to the market to spend time with each other."

Christophe's snicker didn't go unnoticed.

"That was not a date," Petra huffed. "I wanted you to help me barter with the merchants."

"It's okay,  _ a chroí _ . One usually doesn't try as hard as you did to barter with merchants. But it took me too long to realize it's because I was there when I recalled how much effort you were putting in. You wanted to impress me because I was good at it, didn't you?" Ashe smiled against the top of his wife's head as he kissed it.

"Your confidence knows no bounds," Petra rolled her eyes, betrayed by the embarrassment in her voice.

"I definitely heard a yes."

"You are correct," Petra caved in and outright admitted. 

"I knew it," Ashe beamed. "But yes, seeing that gave me more of a confidence boost than you know. That was the reason I took you on that date soon after we reunited. There's a saying we have in Fodlan. It's 'absence makes the heart grow fonder.' I had a feeling that you felt the same, even then."

"Oooh, so Mama and Papa were in  _ love _ for a long time! Did you kiss on your date too?" Cassie cackled.

Christophe made ad face and rolled his eyes like his Mother, topping it off with a feigned gag. "That's weird, Cas. Why would you ask that?" he speaks up after a long bout of silence. 

Petra shook her head. "He did not, but I certainly wanted him to."

Ashe's lips rose up, full of mirth. "I'll make it up to you later, I promise. But yes, Cassie, we've been in love for a long time."

Both of their cheeks glowed a bright red, and Ashe beamed, placing a chaste kiss on his wife's scalp. "And we both still are," Petra simpered, earning Petra a happy hum that rose from Ashe's chest. "But you know, I suppose in a way, we both came from beyond the sea, just in different ways. And maybe, you'll be the person in that story one day for someone else,  _ a stóirín- _ but with less drowning; even you, Christophe."

"Uh, huh. I don't think so, Papa," he grumbled, denying it outright despite knowing better. It reminded Ashe and Petra of Felix when he got caught smiling, listening to Annette sing in the library during the war. 

Ashe felt a rush of nostalgia thinking about it. If there was one thing he missed about the war, it had been seeing his friends every day, even under the immense pressure, the war entailed.

"...You really think so?" Cassie spoke up, snapping Ashe out of his thoughts.

"I know so," Petra interjects confidently, placing a kiss on the back of her daughter's head. "One day, we will travel beyond Brigid to the many places beyond the sea… all of us. We'll have lots of adventures together- and maybe you and your brother will find someone to love as well."

Christophe made a face, but Cassie's expression turned into a dreamy one.

"Promise?"

"Of course," Petra pledged, letting go of her daughter's now braided hair, its colors a beautiful mix of her parents, plum-like her mothers with silver streaks like her father. Petra pulled her daughter into an embrace, Ashe wrapping her arms around them both surrounded by the sounds of the waves crashing onto the shore. "I promise,  _ a leanbh _ ."

"Okay… that's good!" Cassie hummed happily, leaning back into her Mother's embrace. The family sat silently amongst the sandy dunes of Brigid's beach for some time, quietly basking in the warmth of each other and the setting sun until Christophe looked up at his father.

"Mama? Papa?"

"Hmm? Yes, darling?" Petra responded first.

"Can we go and play in the ocean? I wanna play right now," Christophe asked, eagerly reaching out his arm and Cassie copying him. Though it had only made sense they both inherited their Mother and father's love for the ocean, it still felt surreal to the ruling couple.

"Right now?" she raised an eyebrow at her son. The little one knew that tone and what it meant.

" **Please,** can you  **please** come to play with us in the sea?" Cassie begged in place of her brother, looking up to her Mother with the puppy dog eyes neither could resist. Petra chuckled and hummed contemplatively, a little longer than her daughter would like.

"What do you think, love?" Petra leans back onto Ashe's side, resting her head against his shoulder. The man leaned down and absentmindedly trailed kisses on his wife's cheeks, not answering to see their children's reaction.

"Mmm… I don't know,  _ a ghrá _ . It is getting late…"

That immediately got a reaction of the poor girl, angrily pouting and crossing her arms as she squirmed in her Mother's grasp. Christophe pulled on his arm, begging him with a drawled out 'please.'

Ashe could just see Cassie's angry pouts, which, combined with his son's complaining making Ashe fight back the urge to laugh.

"Mamaaa, Papaaa, please!" she whined adorably, somehow.

"Cassie. You know I have to return to my duties soon..." Ashe sadly explained. Petra stroked her daughter's head contemplatively.

"Yeah, but Papa, you're always busy! And you're not busy now, so why can't we play right now?!" Christophe frowned, now legitimately upset.

"Tomorrow. Your father can return to his duties tomorrow," Petra snapped with a response.

"Really?!" Cassie and Christophe gasped simultaneously.

"Petra… are you sure?" Ashe hushedly asked in concern.

"I am sure. The Elders can wait," Petra firmly reassured him. "Let us spend time together as a family, for now. It has been far too long." Petra motioned for Cassie to stand, the girl excitedly leaping to her feet, Petra soon after. His wife held out a hand, Ashe taking it and pulling himself off the ground with Petra's help. Christophe scrambled off the sand and followed along.

"Now. Do not go too deep into the water. I do not want that effort in making that braid go to waste, and your father and I don't want to go swimming after anyone not being careful again," Petra warned her kids sternly.

"Okay, Mama," the twins nodded a little intimidated by her tone. Petra gently took Cassie's hand, leading her daughter into the water and Ashe with Christophe. With the wind blowing lightly along the beachside, small waves washing over their feet and rising past their ankles, they move a little deeper into the water until it reached their children's knees.

Cassie and Christophe let their parent's hands go and splashed water into the air and on each other, spinning around with a beaming smile on their faces. "Mama! Papa! I can't wait to go beyond the ocean together! Just the four of us!" Cassie exclaimed.

"Yeah. But no lovey-dovey stuff! Just cool adventures!" Christophe added. Cassie frowned and kicked up water onto her brother's clothes, Christophe firing back playfully.

Their parent's expressions softened at their innocent smiles. Their hearts filled with a strange, foreign feeling that they welcomed all the same, knowing their children would have the childhood and upbringing they were never able to have.

Her parents looked at the other, Petra winking at Ashe. He chuckled and looked back at their children.

Four would eventually become six before they set sail for Fodlan again, but that would be for another day. Right now, Petra and Ashe wanted nothing more than to be with them and each other.

Their hearts. Their family.

Petra took hold of Ashe's hand, leading him deeper into the water.

They both exclaimed: "And neither can we, Cassandra, Christophe!"

**Author's Note:**

> It's fluff only hours.
> 
> Comments and kudos are greatly appreciated as per usual! Hope you all have a good one!


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